When was the last time you called up your childhood friends to say how much you miss them? When was the last time you told your parents how much they mean to you? When was the last time you did something you really enjoy doing? Questions that cross our way sometime or the other. That touch ordinary human lives every day. Intense, gripping and refreshingly different, ‘Rafflesia The Banished Princess‘ is a heart-warming tale about ordinary people and their inherent desire to remain happy, the people they care about, the things they dream of and live for and events that change their lives forever!

Rafflesia – The Banished Princess by Gautam

Incredibly evocative: A touching social drama focused on ordinary lives. The characters are very fundamental, layered, vulnerable and flawed. Reading the book is an intensely emotional experience.

Evokes strong visuals: Wildly scenic with vivid descriptions throughout evoke strong visuals while reading. It is almost like watching a movie at the theatre. There is a dream like feel throughout the story.

Identifiable characters: Poignant situations and believable characters, they are people you know. They are just near you, somewhere. Or they may be those you have left behind. The book leaves you with a strong feeling of connecting to your past.

Engaging narrative: The story grows on the reader slowly and leaves a lingering sense of deja-vu by the time it ends. An engaging narrative makes it a worthwhile read, something you would like to catch on a lazy rainy afternoon or while on a long holiday.

Refreshingly different: Absolutely unpretentious with a very different take on relationships. The story celebrates relationships, the ones that are less celebrated. It celebrates music. It celebrates colours. It celebrates life, just the way it is!

Gautam says “Writing a book has been a childhood dream. I remember dad reading out the ‘Merchant of Venice’ when I was quite young. I hadn’t understood much then. Vague memories of dad’s rimmed glasses and the story of Shylock still remain. Dickens happened a few years later and I thought I was Pip. Along came the Famous Five and Hardy Boys and then Harold Robbins and Sidney Sheldon. Before I realized, I was an adolescent. Life flew fast. One thing led to the other and all that remains of my childhood today are a collection of some fleeting yet beautiful memories. But somewhere deep down, the desire to write something always remained strong. It played hide and seek with me for years. I did not know what to write about. Whatever little I managed remained in a diary, then floppy disks, eventually making their way into my laptop. During weekdays I am a business analyst dabbling with figures and charts, a writer for a few hours during weekends, music, travel and reading at other times.”